Jun 20th 2008 A Father’s Day Message
Father, You are Great
NAU Psalm 104:1-5 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind; He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers. He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever.
Today is Fathers Day and it has been rumored to start as a result of Hallmark Cards trying to find a way to extract our precious money from our wallets…but since rumors are part of gossip I decided to research it and found some information on Wikipedia the online encyclopedia.
In the United States, the first modern Father’s Day celebration was held on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont, West Virginia. Today, Father’s Day is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday of June.
In West Virginia, it was first celebrated as a church service at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South, now known as Central United Methodist Church. Grace Golden Clayton, who is believed to have suggested the service to the pastor, is believed to have been inspired to celebrate fathers after the deadly mine explosion in nearby Monongah the prior December. This explosion killed 361 men, many of them fathers and recent immigrants to the United States from Italy. Another possible inspiration for the service was Mothers’ Day, which had been celebrated for the first time two months prior in Grafton, West Virginia, a town about 15 miles away.
Another driving force behind the establishment of the integration of Father’s Day was Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd, born in Creston, Washington. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, as a single parent reared his six children in Spokane, Washington. She was inspired by Anna Jarvis’s efforts to establish Mother’s Day. Although she initially suggested June 5, the anniversary of her father’s death, she did not provide the organizers with enough time to make arrangements, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June. The first June Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, WA, at the Spokane YMCA.
Unofficial support from such figures as William Jennings Bryan was immediate and widespread. President Woodrow Wilson was personally honored by his family in 1916. President Calvin Coolidge recommended it as a national holiday in 1924. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson made Father’s Day a holiday to be celebrated on the third Sunday of June. The holiday was not officially recognized until 1972, during the presidency of Richard Nixon.
In recent years, retailers have adapted to the holiday by promoting male-oriented gifts such as electronics, tools and greeting cards. Schools and other children’s programs commonly have activities to make Father’s Day gifts.
I guess the rumors are correct retailers are extracting money from our wallets…
Today I declare to tell you that Fathers day started long ago, CJB John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Today we will compare and contrast the Father in Heaven who is our ultimate exemplar of what a Father should be, to the example of a father that is displayed in media and popular culture.
The Father in Heaven the one and only Lord God as written in the Bible is our creator, sustainer, and redeemer. He is described as loving, kind, jealous, slow to anger, forgiving, almighty, longsuffering, our saviour, self-existent, all knowing, faithful, gracious, our guide, immutable in character, impartial, incomprehensible, infinite, invisible, the judge, king, and Holy. I like to sum it all up in one phrase: God is ineffable!!! Ineffable means that He is incapable of being expressed in words.
One of the most influential songs in modern Christianity is by Christ Tomlin called Indescribable…the lyrics from our Psalm this morning.
From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea, Creation’s revealing Your majesty. From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring. Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming, Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God, All powerful, untamable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God.
Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow. Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light. Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night, None can fathom
Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name
You are amazing God, All powerful, untamable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God, You are amazing God
Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God, All powerful, untamable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God, Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God, Incomparable, unchangeable
You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same
You are amazing God, You are amazing God
The scriptures speak of the greatness of God the Father, and in His names this revealed.
Heavenly Father the great “I am” or ‘Elohim.
Jehovah-Jireh “God the Provider”
Jehovah-Nissi “God my refuge”
Jehovah-Shalom “God is Peace”
Jehovah-Shammah “God is there”
Jehovah-Tsidkenu “God is our righteousness”
Adonai “Lord”
And yet with all His majesty and His glory and His ineffability He decided to create each and every one of us, in His image.
Genesis 1:26-28 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
That is very humbling…that the Lord God Father of all decided to make a dad in His own image.
Think for a moment about the qualities of God…does that remind you of your dad?
It should, and if it doesn’t then you are listening to satan and believing the lie of all lies, that God is not who He says He is.
The image of an earthly dad as presented in the scriptures is this:
Sustainer, kind, gentle, loving, forgiving, provider, a discipliner,
Media portrayal of a man
Modern television is horrible and the dad is presented as a clown someone to be scorned and ignored. Tool Time one of the most popular television shows where Tim Taylor played by Tim Allen is a bumbling fool and yet the Mother Jill Taylor is presented as the one that is the even keeled person.
Another semi-modern show “Step by Step” the father played by Patrick Duffy plays Frank Lamber and the mother played by Suzanne Sommers, depicts the father as backwards, not intelligent, always needing guidance from his wife, leaving decisions to what she desires. “Everybody Loves Raymond,” starring Ray Romano portrays a weak father that is always cowering to the people around him. He is afraid to say what is on his mind in fear that back talk will occur.
Today it has gotten even worse the Simpsons an animated cartoon features Homer Simpson, a drunkard that always spends time in the bar, never disciplines his children, and is portrayed as a man that can barely hold a job, and most prominently He is not the one in charge of the family.
“Family Guy” which is another animated cartoon depicts the father, Peter Griffin as even worse as a womanizer, constantly gawking at women, saying sexually charged statements that lead people to believe that the father is useless and should be a second class citizen.
Well those are just sitcoms and they are supposed to be funny. Well another man that is considered a positive male role model, Dr. Phil McGraw is a man that gives advice on how to raise your family and teaches people how to behave. Dr. Phil no longer is able to practice Psychology anywhere in the US. The Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists imposed disciplinary sanctions on McGraw on January 27, 1989 for an inappropriate “dual relationship” reported in 1988 by a therapy client/employee from 1984. McGraw was ordered by the Board to take an ethics class, pass a jurisprudence exam, complete a physical evaluation, undergo a psychological evaluation and have his practice supervised for one year in order to continue his private practice in Texas. McGraw admits to giving the client a “job” at his office (which is not allowed), but denied carrying on a sexual relationship with the 19-year-old, who says their relationship was “sexually inappropriate.” As of 2008, McGraw has not completed the conditions imposed by the Board of Examiners of Psychologists, and he is not licensed to practice psychology in Texas, California, or anywhere else.
So as we can see modern television
Television in the not so distant past presented fathers in a way that revealed the Lord.
The Rifleman…Lucas McCain played by Chuck Conners
Little House on the Prairie…Charles Ingalls played by Michael Landon
Leave it to Beaver…Ward Cleaver played by Hugh Beaumont
Father Knows Best…Robert Young played Jim Anderson
Schools or the government commonly tells the students if your parents abuse you to call DCFS…The problem is that children confuse a spanking with abuse…they are not the same. Just so we are clear on how to raise kids…
The school is the government and they are telling you how to raise your kids? Does this bother you at all when the government of today discards the Bible and it’s teachings for psychology, and other “scientific” teachings?
A Father the Biblical Way
1. Listen to the Lord God. Pray and listen for the response, “Ask to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Read your Bible daily.
2. Never disagree publicly – That includes backstabbing
3. Love your wife and children and teach them well
4. Do not use the Checkbook to be the absolute authority, or to buy favor.
5. Jesus Christ is the head of you
6. Discipline your Children
God’s answers on how to raise you kids
CJB Revelation 3:19 As for me, I rebuke and discipline everyone I love; so exert yourselves, and turn from your sins!
Proverbs 22:15 Doing wrong is firmly tied to the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far away from him.
Proverbs 29:15 The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame on his mother.
Proverbs 19:18 Discipline your child while there is hope, but don’t get so angry that you kill him!
CJB Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, don’t irritate your children and make them resentful; instead, raise them with the Lord’s kind of discipline and guidance.
NIV Hebrews 12:8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
NKJ Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Jesus’s Reasons to use Scripture:
CJB 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living;
The Bible and it’s teachings are what we need to teach each other on how to behave.
1 Timothy 6:18-19 18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 4 ”Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! 5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 ” And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up
Paul compared his behavior of that of a father.
1 Thessalonians 2:9-12 9 For you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship, how we worked night and day not to put a burden on any of you while we were proclaiming God’s Good News to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless our behavior was in the sight of you believers; 11 for you know that we treated each one of you the way a father treats his children - 12 we encouraged you and comforted you and appealed to you to lead lives worthy of God, who calls you into his Kingdom and glory.
Jesus said in, Matthew 23:9 “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
Head of the Household
Ephesians 5:23 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
1 Corinthians 11:3 3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
Genesis 3:9-17 9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” 12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” 13 And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” 16 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” 17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
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